Alan Weaver was an employee of the Sierra Club 1977-1997, beginning with the Hawaii Chapter and then moving to San Francisco, where he worked in the Books Department. Weaver was involved in efforts to create greater staff involvement in the company from the 1980s on and eventually helped to organize the Sierra Employee Alliance (SEA), which became an official representative of employees in 1992.

The Sierra Club was incorporated in San Francisco on May 28, 1892 by John Muir and other supporters in order to study and preserve the mountain regions of the Pacific Coast. Since that time, the Club has worked to promote the responsible use of natural resources through outreach, education, and programs which make the Sierra accessible to the public.

In 1978 the Sierra Club went through a fiscal crisis resulting in many lay-offs, which angered employees. In an appeasement effort management agreed to the creation of the Sierra Club Stewards, a non-union employee association. The Stewards produced an occasional newsletter, the Independent, for some period in the mid-eighties. In 1989 or 1990, management announced that it would no longer meet with the Stewards, claiming that it might be considered as a de facto bargaining unit. With this collapse of the only moderate alternative, many staff were radicalized in the direction of forming a genuine union and joined forces with staff who had been exploring more effective alternatives to the Stewards system since the early 1980s.

Beginning in 1982, individuals within the Sierra Club had hoped to organize a true union, and between 1982 and 1989 they investigated various internationals, including OPEIU and others. Sylvana Nova, who worked on Sierra Magazine, was a former employee of Mother Jones, which was organized by District 65. Upon Ms. Nova's recommendation, Sierra Club staff approached District 65 for advice and support in the organizing process. Alan Weaver, who had been an active member of the Sierra Club Stewards, contributed significantly to the organizing effort along with Ms. Nova and Lorraine Vallejo. These employees were among the early activists working under the advice of professional District 65 organizers to organize national staff. At the time, chapter staff were hired and employed through the individual chapters.

Sierra Club management vigorously resisted union organizing and a National Labor Relations Board election was called in 1992. Phil Berry was president of the Sierra Club and a lawyer at Berry and Berry, a law firm specializing in the defense of asbestos manufacturers against worker health claims. He responded to staff organizing efforts by creating a company union (independent) known as John Muir 100, named in honor of the 100th anniversary of John Muir's founding of the Sierra Club. During the NLRB hearings representatives from John Muir Local 100 sat at the table with management, which was attracted to the possibility of dealing with an independent union rather than having to face the resources, knowledge and professionalism of an international.

Prior to the election, District 65 was melded into the United Auto Workers. Those employees who chose to join John Muir Local 100 argued that District 65's absorption into the UAW compromised conservation effectiveness because the Sierra Club and the UAW were sometimes on opposite sides of clean air legislation. The Conservation Department of the Club tended to favor John Muir Local 100 for this reason.

In August, 1992 a three-way election was held with the following options: 1) no collective bargaining agent, 2) John Muir Local 100, or 3) Sierra Employee Alliance (SEA). Sierra Employee Alliance (SEA) won 55 percent of the vote, having received extensive support from the staff at San Francisco headquarters, and proceeded to bargain for a contract. John Muir Local 100, which had no staff, simply used Sierra Club's (SEA's) contract once it had been accepted by management. Following Sierra Club's (SEA's) victory, Executive Director Michael Fischer resigned, allegedly under pressure from Berry, and was replaced by Carl Pope.

The Sierra Club faced another fiscal crisis during the early 1990s and worked with Sierra Employee Alliance (SEA) to negotiate a longer work week, voluntary lay-offs, and other alternatives. As of 2005, Sierra Employee Alliance (SEA) continues to represent Sierra Club national employees in concert with John Muir Local 100, which represents field employees.